IQ Tests Proposed For Migrants to Help Facilitate Integration

The regional government of Saarland in Germany has proposed to test migrants’ IQ to aid in their integration.

The Saar-Interior Minister Klaus Bouillon of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party (CDU), has put forth a controversial idea to help integrate new migrants easier. Bouillon has said that he would like to see the new migrants to the area undergo tests to determine their intelligent quotient reportsBerliner Kurier.

The IQ tests would, according to the proposal, aid in the process of integration by finding out how many among the migrants were gifted and putting them on different types of lesson plans so that those with a higher IQ are able to work at a faster and more complex pace, while those with a lower IQ are given more attention in any areas they may struggle with.

Bouillon told local media, “we want to start a pilot project,” where the government is able to determine the “talents” of the new migrants and what vocations and professions the migrants may be either talented in or have an interest. He said that the program would start with around 600 to 700 volunteers and would work with the Federal Employment Agency as well as what he called, “renowned labor market experts.”

The proposal has so far been met with criticism and a lot of resistance from the other parties in the regional government. the Socialist Party (SPD) Secretary General of the region, Petra Berg said the entire ideas was, “completely the wrong approach,” and that there could be no “special intelligence” gathered from the tests. She also remarked that the IQ tests could foment prejudice and the entire exercise reveals an inhuman and discriminatory aspect of man.

So far there has been no comment from the Federal Office for Migration and Refugees. The most the organisation would tell the press is that they were not in a position to comment on the matter.

Education and integration among new migrants has been a hotly debated issue over the course of the migrant crisis. Many establishment politicians and the media have claimed that the new migrants had advanced education levels and would find it easy to learn a new language, find work, and would contribute to the economy and future economic growth of Europe.

Reports by various think tanks and by teachers themselves have painted a picture that shows a great struggle to educate new migrants who have come from places like the Middle East and North Africa. A German education expert said that up to two thirds of the new migrants were basically illiterate and countries like Sweden have seen test scores nosedive as a result of mass migration.

Economic think tank The Institute for Economic Research debunked the idea that migrants could be a solution to low cost labor shortages. In a report they said that even well educated migrants would not be able to work because of the huge difference in language and that many of them may be forced into low skill work as a result.